Improvement in ditching-machines



4 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. 0,. oseoon.

DITGHING MACHINE. No. 107,710. Patented Sept. 27', 1870.

n warms. Phbw-Lhhngnphu. Washington. 0. c.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. 0. 'oseoon. DI-IGHING MACHINE.

' Patented Sept. 27, 1870.

v 4 Sheets-sheet 3. J. (LOSGOOD.

DITGHING MACHINE No. 107,710. Patented Sept. 27. 1870.

JASON o.fosc.0o.1), or TROY, N-Ew' YORKu Letters Patent No. 167,710,dated September 2?. 1870.

I IMPROVEMENT VIN DITCHING-MACHINES.

To whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, Jnsou O. Oseoon, of "roy, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented a new and improved Ditching-Machine; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof; reference being bad to the accompanying, rawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon;

Figure 1, view of machine in operation, from a point directly above it.- y I Figure 2, side elevation of machine in operation. Figure 3, rear end viewof machine in operationi Figure 4, telescopicaxle.

. Figure 5, inueraxle.

Figure 6,- morlification of axle. Figure 7, view of centervdf; axle. Figures 8 and 9, side view-,of link of arms D D. Figure 10, shaft'E, with sleeves, 800. i Fignre ll, center bracket to shaft E. Figure 12, side view of .bracket. a Figure 13, back view of. bucket, showing spriug'K.

A A are wheels, carrying the buckets. AeA A A aredigging-buckets. a a a a are arms,"by which buckets are attached to .thewheels. I f v B B, shafts on which wheels A A turn. b b are wrists projecting from arms D D. G O, inner arms, supporting shafts B B. D D, outerarma supporting shaflzs B B.- d d, links terminating arms D D. E is driving-shalt. F F, sleeves on shaft E. 1*" F, cog-wheels on sleeves. G G, drum on sleeves F 11. H H, driving-chains. I', braces connecting arms 0 O and D D. a K K K K, hinged sides of "buckets A A AA. K K K K, spring catches on buckets. L L, aprons for receiving th'e'earth.

L I), arms supporting aprons. l 1, bars connected with aprons. M M, springs to open buckets. M M, springs to close buckets. N, frame to-support the power.

0 0 O 0, wheelssupporting frame N. PP,axle-trees. Q, drum under frame N. Q, ratchet-wheel.' 'lt, pole of frame N. S, hearings in which 1 works. i '1, rod by whiehrnaehinelmay be raised.- I t t t t chains by which machine may be raised. T, ratchet-wheel on T. a U, shaft to which power-is applied. U U, cog-wheels in shaft U. V, sway-bar. V V, arms attached to sway-bar. c is ratchet. r a a wheels A A 't'o-be at such The Schedule'referred to these Letters Patent and making part of the same W, rod operating sway-bar. w, dog to ratchet-whee1 Q.

strnctinga machine that it will cut ditches in the land at the proper slope, and as wide and deep as may be required, will feed itself, and can be operated by horse, steam, or other power. y

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation. Having-determined the width of the bottom of theditch to be dug, and the sloperof the sides, Iconstruct four-buckets or dippers, A A A, it, the bottom of each of which shall be some] six inches wider than one-half the required "width. of the ditch, :wit-hpthe outer side at such an angle with it as it is necessary to give to the-sides of the ditch. Q g I then, as hereafter described, attach these buckets, by arms a) a a a, to two wheels, A A, which I make of convenient size, (say four feet in diameter,)eacl1 of which turns ona shaft, B 13. v These shafts are supported, at their inner ends, by

arms 0 0, connected with driving-shaft E, and moving freely upon it, and at their outer ends, by arms D D, with'the extremities of the same shaft E, the arms D D terminating in links (I d, so arranged that the said arms may move aboutthe saidshaftas a center,

and yet alw. ys be at the required angle with it, keeping always the centers of shafts B 'B and center of driving-shaft E at the-same distance-at which'they are placed when the machine is constructed.

These arms 0 O and DD are so adj usted that the shafts B B incline toward each 'other,.and cause the that the buckets A A A A', when revolving, cross each others path'iu the ditch.-

the wheels, A A, that, when at their lowest point,

form, with the bottom, the angles required to give the desired slope to the ditch.

to the bottom, K K. r l

The buckets should be hung so that, as one is discharging, the other, on the same wheel, is excavating, and those on the two wheels may dig alternately. I

To cause them to revolve, I connect the wheels A A to sleeves F71 by means of endless chains, H H, playing over themand over. drums G'G,,or by cogwheels, as may be convenient. These sleeves are operated by means of cog-wheels, F F, which' are connected with the shaft U, to whichthe power is applied.

To each of the arms D -D, over'the shafts B B, I, secure a wrist, b b. I then make the apron L L of any convenient size and-material, supportedonlarmw L L, the lower ends of which play overzwrists l) b.

and is held in place by catch K K To each apron, near its inner'and upper corner, I con The nature of my invention consists-in. so conan angle with each other "Ihese.buckets are so constructed, and attached to their bottoms are horizontal, and their odter sides Each of them has a side, KKK K, which is hinged nect, by a joint, one end of a bar, I Z, the other end of which is pivoted to a brace, attached to side of frame outer ends of shaft B andcorresponding end of shaft E. By means of thisarrangement the apron is kept in proper position, at whatever height the cuttingmachine may be.

To the inner .side of each of these aprons I attach the spring M, which is so. constructed and placed as to press back the catches K .K when the buckets reach them, opening the doors K K, and permitting the earth to fall out upon the apron L. .To the arms D D or wrists b b I attach other springs, M M, in such a position that they press against the opens'rdes K K of the buckets, as they begin to descend, and close them, the springs K K fastening them in place.-

. The machine should be strengthened by braces I, connecting-arms C- G and D D, or in any convenient manner, so that said arms may be held firmly in their proper relative positions.

To enable one to move the machine from place to place, I construct frame N, on which to place a treadmill, or anyother means of applying power. Y

Thisframe I support 011 two pairsof wheels, 0 0 O O, with broad trees, each pair of which is connected by telescopic axles P P, so constructed that they may be lengthened or shortened, in order that the width of track may be adaptedto the width of the ditch.

Then the machine is to be moved, the forward axle-tree should be attached tothe frame N by being placed under the end of it, and held in place by apin. When in the place where it is to operate, the axletree should be detached and placed over the frame, and again secured by the pin, thus giving the frame the proper inclination for the horses to' work on it, if horse-power is applied.

Under the frame N I place the drum Q, working in journals, as usual, attached to the lower side of the frame. On one end of the drum is the ratchetwheel Q.

At a convenient place, on the side of frame N Iattach sway-bar V, with two arms, V' V. -To one of these arms is attached the ratchet a2, and to the other the rod W. Holes are made through the end of the rod and ratchet of the arms V V, so that the frame may be raised or lowered at'pleasnre, arid held in place by pins. The other endof the rod W plays about an eccentric pin in face of wheel V. A dog is so placed as to hold the wheel \V, when relieved by ratchet.

At a convenient place under the frame N I secure shalt U, having cog-wheels U U at its ends, and to which the power is to be applied in any manner.

1 now attach the machine to the frame, by securing to the former bearings, through which shaft E passes, and in which it may play freely.

The cog-wheels U U should workin cog-wheels F F.

name

To enable the machine to be raised or lowered, to adapt itto the depth of ditch, I connect with the upper part of the frame, over the shaft E; and parallel withit, the rod'T, by means of bearings S, in which it plays. With this rod I connect the arms 0 C and D D, by chains t t t t, by winding or unwinding which the rod T the machine may be elevated or depressed, at pleasure. I

The machine now isready to operate, and I attach the pole R to forward axle-tree, and, byhorses, draw it to the place where it is to be used. Then, taking out the horses and depressing the front end of the frame, as before described, I attach one end of a rope or chain to the pole, and passi'ngit through a pulley, secured to any stationary object in the line of the ditch, fasten the other end to the drum Q. Applying the power, the motion is imparted, by cog-wheels N N, to wheels F F, and the buckets A A"--A' A revolve. As they reach, in turn,- the springs M M, the

hinged side opens, and the earth falls upon the aprons L L, from which it slides and-falls at a convenient distance from the ditch. At the-same time the motion is communicated to drum Q,wl iich revolves and winds up the rope or chain, and this moves themachine forward as rapidly as desired, and feeds the diggingbuck-ets automatically.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. The wheels A A, with buckets A A A A attached, and combined with shafts O G ahd D D, all so constructed and arranged, with reference to one an other, that the two pairs of buckets may be at such angle with each other that they will cross each others tracks in the ditch, as herein described and set forth.

2. The construction and-arrangement of the buckets A A A A, substantially as stated, and for the purposes set forth. 7

3. The arms 0 O and DD, bar I, wheels A A, and shafts B B, arranged as described-,in combination with chains and shaft F and drums H H, substantially as set forth, and for the purposes described.

4. The arrangement of springs M M, combined with arms 1) D or wrists b b, so as to close and fasten the doors K K K K, whatever the position of the machine.

5. The arrangement of aprons L and L, wrist 1), bar I, and frame N, substantiallyfin the manner and for the purpose described and set forth.

6. The drum Q and ratchet-wheel Q, combined with .sway-bar V, arms V V, ratchet 1;, rod \V, and wheel U, all constructed and operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth and described.

Witnesses N. DAVENPORT, HENRY JOHNSON.

JASON O. OSGOOD. 

